Ice-boxes



March 28, 1961 J. GIL VIDALES EI'AL ICE-BOXES Filed Aug. 17, 1956 L 7| t52 I 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS March 1961 J. GIL VIDALES El'AL2,977,174

ICE-BOXES Filed Aug. 17, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS J 655 Yoda/Z196E 6 il Vbdalea March 1961 J. GIL VIDALES ETAL 2,977,174

ICE-BOXES 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Aug. 17, 1956 IN V EN TORS 2,977,174Patented Mar. 28, 1961 ICE-BOXES Joaquin Gil Vidales and Enrique GilVidales, both of 130 San Federico St., Barcelona, Spain Filed Aug. 17,1956, SenNo. 604,721 7 Claims priority, application Spain May 21, 1956'1 Claim. Cl. 312-305 It is well known that the use of conventionalice-boxes always has been subject to difliculties. Several suggestionshave been made in this connection although there have been encounteredalways some drawbacks of practical importance, such as the need ofmomentarily withdrawing from, the ice-box the articles or receptacleslocated near the door when it is necessary to reach some. items placedbehind these articles.

The main object of the present invention is to avoid these drawbacks byproviding an improved construction for the supports of the articles tobe stored, by means of which it is possible to place within the reach ofthe hand all of the contents of the cabinet while obviating theformation of dead spaces of any substantial volume.

A further object. of theinvention is to provide a new system ofconstruction for ice-boxes which results in the hygienic advantage thatthere is no need of either disturbing or piling. up .the foodsowing tothe difii'culty in placing them at the .rear portion. of the cabinet.

.According to the invention, the improvementscons ist in arrangingthestepped supports for holding the trays ona revolving assemblyassociated-withthe door 'of the cabinet in such. a manner thatuponrevolvingit communicates successively all of the trays or supports infront ofsaiddoor. I

Within this feature, the system can be modified "by several embodimentsgenerally depending on the nature and type of construction of thecabinet itself. For example, when dealing with ice-boxes, the containerfor the ice bar or piece can be arranged over the revolving assemblyitself or separate therefrom and such embodiments will be reflected inthe specific construction of the supports in the uper part of therevolving members. In automatic refrigerators, the evaporator will belike- Wise mounted separately from the revolving ensemble.

Other and further objects and advantages of the invention will beevident from the following description taken together with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatical elevation, partially in section, of anembodiment;

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 22 of the Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 33 of Fig. 1;

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are structural details, schematical, of supports fortrays which can be used in the system;

Fig. 7 is a structural detail of another embodiment;

Fig. 8 is a plan view of Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is a further embodiment of securing means for the tray, and

Fig. 10 is a plan view of Fig. 9.

In connection with Figures 1 to 3 there is disclosed the assemblyintended for ice-boxes. Numeral 10 is the bottom of the cabinet,provided with the corresponding thermal insulation 11. A hole 12 hasbeen formed in the central area of the bottom 10 and crosses the lattervertically, thus communicating the inner space 13 of the,

cabinet with a lower cavity 14for the purposes which will hereinafter bedescribed. r v

A bearing member '16 is secured on the upper face of the bottom 10 bymeans of screws 15, said bearing memher being in coaxial relation withthe hole 1 2, and it is vertically drilled in correspondence with saidhole 12. A tubular shaft 17 is arranged in the described holes and issecured to the ring 18 rotatably mounted on the bearing 16, so that thering and shaft can revolve about the bearing.

The shaft 17 extends upwardly to the upper portion of the cabinet, whereit abuts a dish which communicates with theinterior of said shaft and isadapted to receive an ice block 20 to cool the cabinet.

The water resulting from the melting of the ice .is collected on thedish 19 and flows down the interior of the shaft 17 until leavingthrough lower end 21 slightly protrudes within the space 14 where it canbe recovered, by any conventional means.

The shaft 17 has secured thereto a plurality of frames 22 formed ofhorizontal sections secured to the shaft by rim 24-which can roll incontact with the rollers 25 adapted to revolve in the roller supports 26which are secured to the lateral walls 'of the cabinet at the locationswhich can best be seen in Fig. 2. Furthermore, pillars 27 have beenprovided which extend upwardly to support the edges of the ice dishwhich, in this manner,

should not be entirely supported by the shaft 17. Between the frames andthe dish there is formed a space which can be used to store the articlesto be maintained at a lower temperature. r

The pillars or members 23 have squared supports 28 which protrudelaterally with respect to the longitudinal axis of the respectivemembers, and has its concavity directed towardsthe center of the system,as seen in Figs. 4 and 5.

The shaft 17 is formed with ribs or shoulders 29 located at the samelevel as the horizontal legs 30 ofthe supports or right-angle members 28and faced with the spaces comprised between any two adjacent pillars. Atriangular or sector shaped tray 31 can be placed on one of the supportsof two adjacent pillars and over the shoulder of the shaft 17 whichfaces the space defined between those pillars. Thus, the tray mayreceive the articles to be stored. The vertical oscillation of thesetrays is prevented by the upper stops 32 spaced apart from thecorresponding ribs or shoulders in an amount corresponding to the heightof the tray and are formed with an incline or bevel 33 to facilitate theinsertion of the latter. The horizontal displacement of the trays overthe supports is prevented by the vertical leg portions 34 of theright-angle members 28.

By suitably distributing these sets of supports along the height of thesystem, the relative positions of several trays can be combined so thatthe necessary space is formed between two successive trays in order tojust provide room enough for the article or object placed on the lowertray. The arrangement of the trays between several other trays is shownin Fig. 3.

When, owing to constructive or like requirements, it is necessary tomount the container or ice dish nonrotatably,

the construction disclosed in Fig. 7 can be used.

The dish 19 is supported by the transversely extending rods 35 connectedby the ends thereof to the right-angle rod supports 350 which aresecured to the lateral walls of the cabinet by means of the screws 351.The opposite ends of said rods 35 are connected, for example, by weldingthem to the bearing 36 which is in alignment 'with the bearing 16,previously described, so that the shaft 17 can be guided between bothbearings as in the previous case. For the purpose of giving furtherstability to the dish '19, in this latter case the rods 35 have weldedthereto, at intermediate locations, the ends of two auxiliary rods 352extending to the rear wall ofthe cabinet and secured thereto by means ofa combination of rod supports and screws similar to that described, andare numbered with the same reference numerals; In this embodiment thedrain of the dish is effected through the short tube 37 leading into theshaft 17.

In this latter embodiment, the assembly of the ice dish can be changedto an evaporator or' the like device adapted to take heat.

At all events it will be understood that the assembly is placed withinthe refrigerator or ice-box so that the door of the latter is locatedbetween two supports 26, and by suitably revolving the assembly all ofthe departments can be reached without unloading any articles orreceptacles.

As is apparent from Figs. 9 and 10, the revolving assembly may be alsosimplified by reducing it to the tube 17, and by securing the traysdirectly thereupon. The shaft 17 is provided with pairs of radial holes38 and a slot 39 the width of which is less than the diameter of theholes and directed downwardly. The frames 22 are dispensed with and thetrays are supported by the brackets 40 which is equivalent to that ofthe previously described trays, but they are provided at a portion adjacent'the tube 17 with an extension 41 which is directed downwardly andfrom which two radial tenons 42 protrude adapted to be received inrespective slots 39. These tenons have respective heads 43 of greaterdiameter than the width of the slots but less than the holes 38 so thatthe support can be placed in position by radially inserting the tenonsthrough the holes and then displacing the support downwardly untilfitting the tenons in the slots.

As will be understood, each said support is so built that it comprisesthe means just necessary to support a tray like those described, or elsethe support and the tray may be formed as a single part, such as isillustrated in Figs. 9 and 10.

Of course, the trays can be provided with the usual devices forfacilitating the arrangement of the objects, for example, holes forplacing bottles or eggs. Also, several modifications such as shape andsize can be used with the present invention without departing from thescope thereof as defined in the appended claim.

We claim:

In a refrigerator cabinet having at least a bottom, and two side walls,a fixed refrigerant supporting member adjacent the upper end of thecabinet, a first journal centrally positioned in said refrigerantsupporting member, a second journal centrally positioned in said bottomand open at its lower end, aligned with said first journal,

a vertical tubular shaft -mounted for rotation in said journals, a tubeextending through said refrigerant supporting member and communicatingwith the interior of said tubular shaft to provide a drain from saidrefrigerant supporting member through the open lower end of said secondjournal, a pair of vertical rectangular frames disposed at substantiallyright angles to each other secured at the mid points of their top andbottom horizontal members to points adjacent the top and bottom,respectively, of said shaft for rotation with said shaft, a plurality ofunequidistantly spaced pairs of circular supporting collars secured tosaid shaft, the underside of the top collar of each pair beingdownwardly and inwardly beveled, elongated L-shaped supporting memberscarried by each vertical member of each frame, each L -shaped memberhaving a horizontal leg forming a shelf projecting inwardly in alignmentwith the lower'collar of each pair of collars, and a plurality ofsubstantially triangular trays, each having its apex supportedhorizontally on a lower collar of a pair of collars, the bevel of saidupper collars facilitating insertion and removal thereof, the oppositebase corner of each tray seating on the horizontal shelf of an L-shapedmember, the length of each shelf being suflicient to support adjacentcorners of two trays.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

